WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:16.280 It's hard to imagine modern day horse racing without all the numbers and without all the 00:16.280 --> 00:19.000 computers that have to crunch those numbers. 00:19.000 --> 00:21.040 Computers that calculate odds and payoffs. 00:21.040 --> 00:25.640 Indeed, computers have had a major effect on all kinds of gambling, not just horse racing. 00:25.640 --> 00:30.840 Going from computerized slot machines in Vegas to massive databases for professional gamblers. 00:30.840 --> 00:37.840 Today we take a look at computers and gambling on this edition of the Computer Chronicles. 00:37.840 --> 01:03.760 The Computer Chronicles is made possible by Leading Edge, makers of IBM compatible computer 01:03.760 --> 01:08.320 systems including word processing with spelling correction, communication software, and Hayes 01:08.320 --> 01:11.840 compatible 1200 and 2400 baud modems. 01:11.840 --> 01:15.180 Leading Edge with over 1,000 service centers nationwide. 01:15.180 --> 01:18.560 Leading Edge, leading the way to the information age. 01:18.560 --> 01:21.880 Additional funding is provided by McGraw-Hill, publishers of Byte. 01:21.880 --> 01:26.360 Byte's detailed technical articles on new hardware, software, and languages cover developments 01:26.360 --> 01:34.720 in computer technology worldwide. 01:34.720 --> 01:36.040 Welcome to the Computer Chronicles. 01:36.040 --> 01:38.680 I'm Stuart Shafae and with me this week is George Morrow. 01:38.680 --> 01:42.000 George, you got kind of interested down there at the racetrack so I got a daily racing form 01:42.000 --> 01:43.480 here and this little computer. 01:43.480 --> 01:47.280 I enter all the data here from the racing form into the computer and the computer predicts 01:47.280 --> 01:49.480 which horses are most likely to win the race. 01:49.480 --> 01:50.480 We'll see if it works. 01:50.480 --> 01:53.880 It seems to me using a computer to figure out which horse is going to win a race is 01:53.880 --> 01:56.720 really the same thing as using a computer to figure out say which stock is going to 01:56.720 --> 01:57.720 win on Wall Street. 01:57.720 --> 01:59.160 I think you're right, Stuart. 01:59.160 --> 02:03.220 People that do this for a living that give you odds on horses are handicappers. 02:03.220 --> 02:07.960 People that do the same thing or advise you about stocks, I think they admit to handicapping 02:07.960 --> 02:08.960 a stock. 02:08.960 --> 02:12.160 So here computers are helping you form judgments. 02:12.160 --> 02:13.680 They're an analytical tool. 02:13.680 --> 02:17.040 There's another aspect of gambling which is the chance part of it. 02:17.040 --> 02:20.640 And there in games of pure chance I think computers are being used to help you entertain 02:20.640 --> 02:22.800 yourself as you put your money in these machines. 02:22.800 --> 02:25.720 George, we're going to see both those examples in fact on the program. 02:25.720 --> 02:29.120 We're going to start out by taking a trip to Reno, Nevada to see how computers have 02:29.120 --> 02:33.560 revolutionized the casino business. 02:33.560 --> 02:37.320 Enormous casinos with extravagant neon displays. 02:37.320 --> 02:41.420 Stacks of cards and chips on green felt tables. 02:41.420 --> 02:42.720 And clanging slot machines. 02:42.720 --> 02:46.200 These are the traditional symbols of gambling. 02:46.200 --> 02:52.240 But in America's casino capitals, poker chips are increasingly sharing the floor with microchips, 02:52.240 --> 02:54.080 especially in the slot machines. 02:54.080 --> 02:59.320 Yeah, the poker machine is a prime example of that, which for all intents and purposes 02:59.320 --> 03:06.920 didn't even exist ten years ago and it's approximately 34 to 36 percent of the Nevada market today. 03:06.920 --> 03:12.160 At the International Gaming Technology Corporation in Reno, Nevada, slot machines have little 03:12.160 --> 03:15.700 in common with their clanking mechanical ancestors. 03:15.700 --> 03:20.960 These slots are sophisticated PCs controlled by an Intel microprocessor. 03:20.960 --> 03:25.000 And they feature special graphics and sound chips. 03:25.000 --> 03:27.560 They're even designed by a computer. 03:27.560 --> 03:30.880 Putting a coin in the slot is almost like booting up. 03:30.880 --> 03:35.600 Basically when you put your money in the machine, and let's take the example of a slot machine 03:35.600 --> 03:42.000 and you pull a handle, at that point in time the microcomputer is programmed to pick a 03:42.000 --> 03:48.280 random number, actually compute a random number using a 32-bit random number generator. 03:48.280 --> 03:54.200 It will then take that 32-bit number and it will basically divide it down to a number 03:54.200 --> 04:00.320 which is within the range of the number of symbols on the reel strips in the machine. 04:00.320 --> 04:03.880 And it will determine what the outcome of the game is to be. 04:03.880 --> 04:09.720 Since the game's outcome is determined electronically, the spinning reels are included just to preserve 04:09.720 --> 04:14.840 the traditional external appearance of the game, an aspect of great importance to casino 04:14.840 --> 04:15.840 operators. 04:15.840 --> 04:20.360 In some cases the electronics scare them away. 04:20.360 --> 04:27.080 To be specific, if we have a reel machine simulated on a video device and we have all 04:27.080 --> 04:31.520 kinds of animation, and I think you may have seen some examples of that, that didn't necessarily 04:31.520 --> 04:34.480 turn on the slot player. 04:34.480 --> 04:40.040 It just was too much of a computer screen is our impression. 04:40.040 --> 04:47.400 Whereas in a poker game it's the same technology involved, but they love that. 04:47.400 --> 04:52.360 Concealed within the friendly interface is a high level of electronic security, such 04:52.360 --> 04:58.200 as optical readers that can tell if a coin is being dropped in or pulled out of the slot, 04:58.200 --> 05:03.660 and sensors that detect if a door is open or if someone has tampered with the reels. 05:03.660 --> 05:08.880 Slot machines are tied into a local area network that transmits any discrepancies to the central 05:08.880 --> 05:14.600 computer room, specifying the kind of fault and the machine's number. 05:14.600 --> 05:19.960 At the Harrah's Casino in Reno, a game called Mega Bucks uses the latest in fiber optics 05:19.960 --> 05:25.320 and even satellite transmission to tie hundreds of machines together to a central jackpot 05:25.320 --> 05:26.320 computer. 05:26.320 --> 05:31.400 As each coin drops, the amount of the bet is transferred by fiber optic cable to the 05:31.400 --> 05:33.200 casino's computer center. 05:33.200 --> 05:39.120 The mainframe recalculates and transmits the new jackpot to an LED display on the casino 05:39.120 --> 05:40.280 floor. 05:40.280 --> 05:45.480 The same system operates between casinos around the state over a satellite link. 05:45.480 --> 05:50.680 Kino is another game that has been radically changed by computer processing. 05:50.680 --> 05:56.000 While paper tickets are still written out by the player, all data entry, number reading, 05:56.000 --> 06:01.280 and bet tabulation are done by computer, which can process the results of the game in about 06:01.280 --> 06:04.880 22 seconds. 06:04.880 --> 06:07.880 Harrah's machines are equipped with more than coin slots. 06:07.880 --> 06:12.520 The new generation of one-armed bandits is more like the automatic teller machine at 06:12.520 --> 06:15.400 a bank, with some important differences. 06:15.400 --> 06:20.720 You can't make withdrawals or deposits, but the casino will issue personal identification 06:20.720 --> 06:35.680 cards to any interested customer. 06:35.680 --> 06:38.080 Joining us in the studio now is Robin Cobby. 06:38.080 --> 06:40.040 Robin's president of Computer Sports World. 06:40.040 --> 06:42.200 Next to Robin is Roxy Roxborough. 06:42.200 --> 06:45.800 Roxy's an odds maker from Las Vegas and generally considered to be the top odds maker in the 06:45.800 --> 06:46.800 country. 06:46.800 --> 06:47.800 George. 06:47.800 --> 06:51.320 Computer Sports World is a database of sports statistics. 06:51.320 --> 06:53.240 It's owned by the Chronicle. 06:53.240 --> 06:56.040 How does that work together? 06:56.040 --> 06:59.880 Many newspapers in the last several years have wanted to get involved in new forms of 06:59.880 --> 07:04.000 communication and communication database services. 07:04.000 --> 07:08.400 Computer Sports World was one of those companies that was out there that was in a good market. 07:08.400 --> 07:11.960 It was a good concept and it was something that the Chronicle was very interested in 07:11.960 --> 07:12.960 pursuing. 07:12.960 --> 07:14.680 This is almost a unique database. 07:14.680 --> 07:17.080 Does anybody else offer anything like this? 07:17.080 --> 07:18.800 Not exactly like this. 07:18.800 --> 07:22.800 We're an online database, which means that if you have a computer and a modem or a communicating 07:22.800 --> 07:27.640 terminal, you can sign on to us making a local phone call 24 hours a day. 07:27.640 --> 07:30.200 And Roxy, you use this database? 07:30.200 --> 07:33.360 Yes, it's an instrumental part of making the odds. 07:33.360 --> 07:34.360 What's your opinion of it? 07:34.360 --> 07:39.960 Well, I think it's fantastic because it takes a lot of time away that I used to have to 07:39.960 --> 07:42.560 spend doing handwritten notes and keeping a lot of statistics. 07:42.560 --> 07:45.480 So it keeps track of everything that you need to know to make odds. 07:45.480 --> 07:47.160 Right, and it files and organizes everything. 07:47.160 --> 07:50.960 Were you able, in fact, before you had computers and databases like this, keep track of the 07:50.960 --> 07:54.400 incredible volume of stats and numbers to make odds? 07:54.400 --> 07:58.400 Well, we did and we may do, but we do a much better job now. 07:58.400 --> 08:01.640 So you feel that you're a lot more accurate having this database? 08:01.640 --> 08:05.360 Much more accurate and you have to remember the gamblers have this database too. 08:05.360 --> 08:07.760 So that's one of the reasons we need to keep on top of it. 08:07.760 --> 08:12.400 Are you aware of people in the gambling business that use it as extensively as you do? 08:12.400 --> 08:16.040 Yes, there are players, gamblers that use it, yes. 08:16.040 --> 08:17.760 Robin, let's take a look at the system now. 08:17.760 --> 08:20.000 Show us the kinds of things you can get out of this database. 08:20.000 --> 08:22.000 We're online right now to your service, right? 08:22.000 --> 08:23.000 Right. 08:23.000 --> 08:26.280 The first thing we're going to want to do is, right now we're looking at it live, so 08:26.280 --> 08:30.360 we're watching the information come right in. 08:30.360 --> 08:33.400 The first thing a subscriber would see, it's very easy to use. 08:33.400 --> 08:38.560 You only go in by entering three-digit codes and you'll get a menu that looks like this 08:38.560 --> 08:39.900 that will lead you to that. 08:39.900 --> 08:42.120 Right now we're looking at information coming in live. 08:42.120 --> 08:46.600 If I want to look at a matchup, for example, which is a file that Roxy uses quite a bit, 08:46.600 --> 08:48.960 I type in three digits and it immediately comes up. 08:48.960 --> 08:49.960 So you can go anywhere in the system with three digits? 08:49.960 --> 08:50.960 This is an NCAA basketball matchup, yes. 08:50.960 --> 08:51.960 Three digits. 08:51.960 --> 08:52.960 What do you get from that, Roxy? 08:52.960 --> 08:55.320 Well, we have Georgia Tech and DePaul. 08:55.320 --> 08:57.560 I see right away that DePaul is 13-0 at home. 08:57.560 --> 08:59.320 That means they're unbeaten on their home court. 08:59.320 --> 09:03.680 That's going to make them a pretty good favorite, even over a good ACC team like Georgia Tech. 09:03.680 --> 09:06.720 I can see that Georgia Tech is only 6-6 on the road. 09:06.720 --> 09:09.980 It also shows me all their spread records and it shows me the last five games that each 09:09.980 --> 09:10.980 team has played. 09:10.980 --> 09:13.720 Okay, so you can get home field advantage, all that kind of stuff. 09:13.720 --> 09:14.720 What about NBA basketball? 09:14.720 --> 09:17.720 Show us an example there, Robin. 09:17.720 --> 09:21.240 Well, we have a box score we can take a look at. 09:21.240 --> 09:24.720 After each game is over, we go over the box scores to make sure that all the key players 09:24.720 --> 09:25.720 from both teams played. 09:25.720 --> 09:28.840 Here's a game where San Antonio played Dallas last night. 09:28.840 --> 09:33.360 Now, San Antonio's players are coming across right here where all their starters played 09:33.360 --> 09:35.920 and their major reserves. 09:35.920 --> 09:38.880 And then we'll check Dallas. 09:38.880 --> 09:40.160 This is something you would do every day? 09:40.160 --> 09:41.320 Yes, after each game is over. 09:41.320 --> 09:42.320 What does this show you? 09:42.320 --> 09:45.880 Well, right now I see where Dallas' star point guard, Derek Harper, didn't play. 09:45.880 --> 09:48.000 In fact, he wasn't even a reserve. 09:48.000 --> 09:49.000 So I'll have to find out why. 09:49.000 --> 09:50.000 Those are beautiful presentations. 09:50.000 --> 09:51.000 Okay, and how do you do that? 09:51.000 --> 09:52.640 What are you doing, Robin? 09:52.640 --> 09:53.640 We go right to the injuries. 09:53.640 --> 09:54.640 314, the injuries for NBA. 09:54.640 --> 09:56.000 Okay, so you've got a special injury database. 09:56.000 --> 09:57.000 Right. 09:57.000 --> 10:00.600 And then we'll check up to see if they have any reason that maybe Harper didn't play last 10:00.600 --> 10:01.600 night for Dallas. 10:01.600 --> 10:02.600 Okay, so let's get to Dallas. 10:02.600 --> 10:05.600 What does it tell you? 10:05.600 --> 10:10.040 Well, it says that Harper's got an infected toe and also reserve guard Al Woods has got 10:10.040 --> 10:11.640 a strained left shoulder. 10:11.640 --> 10:12.880 They both missed Friday's game. 10:12.880 --> 10:15.280 They're expected to see limited action, if any, on Saturday. 10:15.280 --> 10:17.940 So I know that when they play Golden State tonight, they'll have to make some slight 10:17.940 --> 10:19.200 adjustment in the line. 10:19.200 --> 10:20.200 Okay. 10:20.200 --> 10:21.200 What about baseball, Robin? 10:21.200 --> 10:22.360 That's a statistics crazy game. 10:22.360 --> 10:23.600 What can you show us on baseball? 10:23.600 --> 10:27.960 Baseball, let me show you the index of our baseball statistics. 10:27.960 --> 10:33.820 This is where we really have a lot of statistics, baseball being so statistical. 10:33.820 --> 10:35.320 And we do go back several years. 10:35.320 --> 10:36.680 Look at that, yeah. 10:36.680 --> 10:40.400 So you can see how left-handed pitchers do versus right-handers, how you do on astroturf 10:40.400 --> 10:44.360 versus grass, how pitchers do after so many days off. 10:44.360 --> 10:45.360 It's all there. 10:45.360 --> 10:46.920 And it's very easy to get at, too. 10:46.920 --> 10:47.920 Yes. 10:47.920 --> 10:50.280 And Roxy, you would use all this stuff in putting the line on a baseball game? 10:50.280 --> 10:51.280 I use a lot of it. 10:51.280 --> 10:54.720 The keys are how teams do against righties and lefties and day-night performance. 10:54.720 --> 10:55.720 Okay. 10:55.720 --> 10:58.000 Can you tell us who's going to win the pennant this year, Robin? 10:58.000 --> 10:59.240 We do have the odds on that. 10:59.240 --> 11:00.240 We probably will. 11:00.240 --> 11:01.240 Already in the game. 11:01.240 --> 11:02.640 First, up there, Roxy provides that with us. 11:02.640 --> 11:06.420 Well, if you're a New Yorker, you'll probably be happy because we've got both New York teams 11:06.420 --> 11:07.420 favorite. 11:07.420 --> 11:10.000 The Mets to repeat and win the National League, they're 7 to 5 favorites. 11:10.000 --> 11:13.760 And the Yankees to be the American League champions, they're 7 to 2 favorites. 11:13.760 --> 11:16.520 Roxy, there's lots of different sports that people gamble on, obviously. 11:16.520 --> 11:19.720 I was wondering, any particular sport in which the computer's really a big advantage? 11:19.720 --> 11:23.680 Yes, it's the biggest advantage in college basketball because we have to chart and track 11:23.680 --> 11:24.680 162 teams. 11:24.680 --> 11:27.160 There's thousands of variables. 11:27.160 --> 11:29.240 There's injuries to chart for every team. 11:29.240 --> 11:32.000 There's just so much that without this service, it would be almost impossible. 11:32.000 --> 11:33.000 Huge database, then. 11:33.000 --> 11:34.000 Yes. 11:34.000 --> 11:35.880 I guess, Robin, as you said, you're the Dow Jones of the sports world. 11:35.880 --> 11:36.880 I am the Dow Jones of the sports world, right. 11:36.880 --> 11:38.200 Robin, Roxy, thank you very much. 11:38.200 --> 11:41.800 As we saw at the beginning of the program, horse racing depends very much on computers 11:41.800 --> 11:42.800 for its betting system. 11:42.800 --> 11:47.200 And one of the newest and most modern computerized betting systems is here at Golden Gate Fields 11:47.200 --> 11:48.960 in the San Francisco Bay Area. 11:48.960 --> 11:59.920 Wendy Woods has that report. 11:59.920 --> 12:04.440 While certain traditions at the track will never fall under the spell of technology, 12:04.440 --> 12:09.520 the business of racetrack betting has at many fields been automated to a level as sophisticated 12:09.520 --> 12:12.240 as the nation's election system. 12:12.240 --> 12:18.240 Unlike the old days of just a few years ago, relay systems and tallying by individual clerks 12:18.240 --> 12:22.400 have been replaced by massive computerized betting systems. 12:22.400 --> 12:28.880 Here at Golden Gate Fields in Albany, California, the odds, the race results, and up to $3 million 12:28.880 --> 12:34.400 in bets placed daily pass through seven continuously operating phone lines to the brains of the 12:34.400 --> 12:39.320 operation, a mainframe at the nearby Bay Meadows racetrack. 12:39.320 --> 12:44.680 Bettors can still go face to face with humans for their wagers, but the clerks all use terminals 12:44.680 --> 12:46.640 linked up to the system. 12:46.640 --> 12:52.560 The more adventurous bettor can use a self-serve betting machine or the newest touchscreen 12:52.560 --> 12:53.560 terminals. 12:53.560 --> 13:00.560 They bet and collect with vouchers that can be used for an entire day of winning or losing. 13:00.560 --> 13:05.880 Even the tote board on the track is controlled and automatically updated by this one computer 13:05.880 --> 13:06.880 system. 13:06.880 --> 13:10.120 Marty Miller of Amtote is the brains behind the operation. 13:10.120 --> 13:15.800 It's actually very simple because we have access to the computer at Bay Meadows and 13:15.800 --> 13:20.040 I can go back to just any window in a plant here and tell them exactly where they stand 13:20.040 --> 13:24.000 with their wagers, how many tickets they've sold, what they've done in their last four 13:24.000 --> 13:25.000 transactions. 13:25.000 --> 13:29.360 Sometimes if they forget where they are, we can help them balance out. 13:29.360 --> 13:33.360 He adds computerized betting is not only efficient, it's honest. 13:33.360 --> 13:39.920 22 years, every penny that we've ever handled in mutual handle has been accounted for. 13:39.920 --> 13:43.320 We know exactly what each clerk sells. 13:43.320 --> 13:46.440 We know exactly on the old system what they cashed. 13:46.440 --> 13:47.440 They would balance it a penny. 13:47.440 --> 13:51.280 We would count the tickets, what the payoffs were, how much the state got. 13:51.280 --> 13:54.600 Every penny, every penny has been accounted for over the years. 13:54.600 --> 13:56.620 Things haven't always gone this smoothly. 13:56.620 --> 14:00.800 On the day that new cards were issued for the machines, the system crashed. 14:00.800 --> 14:05.480 Golden Gate Fields officials soothed tempers by issuing free rain checks for a day that 14:05.480 --> 14:08.000 the computers were back up. 14:08.000 --> 14:13.200 Amtote's computerized betting systems are installed in thousands of racetracks worldwide 14:13.200 --> 14:15.880 and that's a pretty good track record. 14:15.880 --> 14:31.140 In Albany, California, for the Computer Chronicles, I'm Wendy Woods. 14:31.140 --> 14:35.960 With us in the studio now is Bob Archer, president of PDS Software of Torrance, California. 14:35.960 --> 14:39.740 Next to Bob is Professor Michael Orkin, co-founder of Best Bet Software. 14:39.740 --> 14:40.740 George. 14:40.740 --> 14:47.020 Roxy is a really good, skilled odds maker and he seems to have an edge by looking at 14:47.020 --> 14:51.300 the data and understanding where he can get access to it, but he doesn't seem to be using 14:51.300 --> 14:54.440 computers and doing any analysis. 14:54.440 --> 14:55.440 Can you comment on that? 14:55.440 --> 14:59.820 Well, if he had a program that picked the lines and there was a bias in it, the bettors 14:59.820 --> 15:04.660 would pick up on it, any slight bias, and they would start betting accordingly. 15:04.660 --> 15:10.720 And as a result, he'd get locked into a system that would cause the bookmakers to lose. 15:10.720 --> 15:16.740 But couldn't he use a program to keep track of that and to modify that and to actually 15:16.740 --> 15:18.100 become a better odds maker? 15:18.100 --> 15:23.880 Well, I'm sure he uses computers to keep up with data, but if he had a program that actually 15:23.880 --> 15:29.540 picked the line, he would have to keep modifying it because if there were any biases, maybe 15:29.540 --> 15:31.340 some would occur from time to time. 15:31.340 --> 15:35.940 But when he picks a line, he's going through analysis. 15:35.940 --> 15:40.260 That's right, but it's a very dynamic process and he has to keep up with what's going on 15:40.260 --> 15:44.900 and there's so many factors that for him to get locked into a program, which could be 15:44.900 --> 15:45.900 very dangerous. 15:45.900 --> 15:48.220 So he does, right now, he's doing better by staying away from a program. 15:48.220 --> 15:51.820 Right, he's doing better by staying away from a program that actually picks the line. 15:51.820 --> 15:55.860 However, he's relying on computers to provide him with all of the data that he needs. 15:55.860 --> 15:57.620 Bob, you're handicapping horses now. 15:57.620 --> 16:01.060 Is that also a little bit subjective or can you really reduce that to statistics? 16:01.060 --> 16:03.700 No, it would always be subjective. 16:03.700 --> 16:10.620 The computer is an instrument whereby the user would be able to manipulate all the data 16:10.620 --> 16:15.660 to where he wants it so that he has it all in one mode to where he can use it to actually 16:15.660 --> 16:17.580 make his selection from it. 16:17.580 --> 16:20.940 Show us what you would do with your software here in Handicapping a Race, Bob. 16:20.940 --> 16:26.900 Well, basically, our program would work under a principle of entering the data from the 16:26.900 --> 16:31.060 racing form for each particular horse in this particular race today. 16:31.060 --> 16:32.900 So what kind of variables do you have there? 16:32.900 --> 16:39.340 Basically, we have three variables for the race itself and approximately 11 variables 16:39.340 --> 16:40.340 for the horse. 16:40.340 --> 16:43.740 First, you enter the horse's name, his number of starts, let's say, are 12. 16:43.740 --> 16:44.860 He's got three wins. 16:44.860 --> 16:52.260 He's got a total earnings of $67,890 and he's been away from the racetrack for 23 days. 16:52.260 --> 16:56.100 He was second, let's say, in his last race at his first call. 16:56.100 --> 16:58.100 Again, this is information you're pulling off the data in racing form. 16:58.100 --> 16:59.820 Right out of the racing form, that's correct. 16:59.820 --> 17:03.180 His track category, let's say he's racing at Santa Anita, his track category would be 17:03.180 --> 17:04.660 number one. 17:04.660 --> 17:08.540 The distance in his furlongs, he went a mile, so it's going to be eight furlongs. 17:08.540 --> 17:14.820 His speed rating of his best race of the last three was 90 with a track variant of 12. 17:14.820 --> 17:19.060 He had a top 10 jockey on his back and his trainer rating was a 12.33. 17:19.060 --> 17:20.060 Okay. 17:20.060 --> 17:22.380 Now, we've now entered profiles for three different horses. 17:22.380 --> 17:23.900 Let's pretend it's a three-horse race now. 17:23.900 --> 17:26.380 Can you go in and analyze these three horses now? 17:26.380 --> 17:31.060 Yes, we would at this point come up with the next screen. 17:31.060 --> 17:35.660 We'd enter zero and it's going to calculate and put all three horses in their proper order. 17:35.660 --> 17:38.980 You've got a power rating suggesting that Bosto is most likely to win the race among 17:38.980 --> 17:39.980 these three horses. 17:39.980 --> 17:41.220 Bosto, that is correct. 17:41.220 --> 17:43.780 Bosto is the favorite here. 17:43.780 --> 17:47.180 He has a power rating exceeding 12 points. 17:47.180 --> 17:51.460 We're looking for a three and a half point spread between the first horse and the second 17:51.460 --> 17:53.900 horse in order to have what we call a playable race. 17:53.900 --> 17:54.900 I see. 17:54.900 --> 17:58.060 We're getting to the handicapper's own personal biases at that point. 17:58.060 --> 18:00.100 Bob, what exactly is the software doing? 18:00.100 --> 18:02.340 How is it coming up with that rating for those horses? 18:02.340 --> 18:09.940 It is comparing the input of all the data on each individual item to a predetermined 18:09.940 --> 18:12.740 set of standards that it has to compare against. 18:12.740 --> 18:13.740 With a weighting factor. 18:13.740 --> 18:17.500 With a weighting factor to each one of them that then comes up and compares all 10 of 18:17.500 --> 18:18.820 them horses against each other. 18:18.820 --> 18:21.660 Okay, Bob, if I can ask you to pass the keyboard over to Mike now. 18:21.660 --> 18:25.940 Mike, you've got a program that helps a guy betting on football, not the horses, right? 18:25.940 --> 18:26.940 Right. 18:26.940 --> 18:27.940 And what does the software do? 18:27.940 --> 18:34.180 The software has every NFL game since 1979 and it provides its self-contained database 18:34.180 --> 18:39.980 that comes on one floppy disk and it allows the person interested in football to ask questions 18:39.980 --> 18:42.180 about how teams have done in various situations. 18:42.180 --> 18:43.940 Show us the kinds of questions you'd ask it. 18:43.940 --> 18:49.940 Well, I've entered on the program now a look at all New York Giants games since 1983 in 18:49.940 --> 18:53.180 which they lost the week before and played on the road the week before. 18:53.180 --> 18:54.820 And a veteran might actually ask that question. 18:54.820 --> 18:55.820 Yes. 18:55.820 --> 18:56.900 This week the Giants might be playing at home. 18:56.900 --> 18:57.900 They lost last week. 18:57.900 --> 18:59.900 Maybe they really want to win. 18:59.900 --> 19:02.260 Notice they've won at the top on the left. 19:02.260 --> 19:05.260 They've won against a spread 66.7% of the time. 19:05.260 --> 19:10.060 At the bottom, they've won at home against a spread 61% of the time. 19:10.060 --> 19:12.900 Away against a spread two games. 19:12.900 --> 19:17.060 You can also get a list of the games and see exactly what games were played under those 19:17.060 --> 19:20.820 conditions, what the spread was, whether they won or lost against the spread. 19:20.820 --> 19:24.180 Okay, Mike, things like, suppose I had a question about what's the home field advantage on a 19:24.180 --> 19:25.180 Monday night game. 19:25.180 --> 19:26.420 Okay, you can look at day of the week. 19:26.420 --> 19:33.900 In fact, let's go down and do that and just look at all Monday night games since 1983. 19:33.900 --> 19:37.020 So day of the week is down there. 19:37.020 --> 19:40.380 In this case, the stats will come up just for the home team. 19:40.380 --> 19:42.780 Is this an important question for a veteran? 19:42.780 --> 19:47.060 Well, it's one of the many things that a better wants to know about when trying to decide 19:47.060 --> 19:48.060 what team to pick. 19:48.060 --> 19:49.060 What's the program tell you? 19:49.060 --> 19:54.100 Well, that on Monday night, the home team has beat the spread 59.4% of the time since 19:54.100 --> 19:55.100 1983. 19:55.100 --> 19:56.100 So they got a little bit of an edge. 19:56.100 --> 19:58.500 They have, well, they have a little bit of knowledge there that they might put in with 19:58.500 --> 20:00.780 some other stuff that they'll also find on this database. 20:00.780 --> 20:04.860 Mike, how much of an advantage is it really for a better to have a piece of software like 20:04.860 --> 20:05.860 this and this kind of information? 20:05.860 --> 20:08.940 It enables the better to answer a question in a couple of seconds. 20:08.940 --> 20:13.300 It might take them a few hours to do by hand or maybe not even to be able to answer at 20:13.300 --> 20:14.300 all. 20:14.300 --> 20:16.500 So his edge here is he's got a lot of data altogether, right? 20:16.500 --> 20:18.220 Mike, Bob, thank you very much. 20:18.220 --> 20:22.660 Now, one of the most popular forms of gambling in this country is betting on state lotteries. 20:22.660 --> 20:26.180 One of the oldest and most sophisticated state lotteries is the one in Pennsylvania where 20:26.180 --> 20:32.140 they use computers quite a bit. 20:32.140 --> 20:36.480 Each year, Pennsylvania sells more than a billion dollars in lottery tickets. 20:36.480 --> 20:40.900 And when the jackpot gets big enough, that can mean a sales volume of up to one million 20:40.900 --> 20:42.820 transactions an hour. 20:42.820 --> 20:45.580 None of this would be possible without computers. 20:45.580 --> 20:50.420 And indeed, the Pennsylvania lottery has a massive investment in computers. 20:50.420 --> 20:53.580 Retailers sell lottery numbers from online terminals. 20:53.580 --> 20:58.660 Computers recreate each day's games on a separate IBM backup system to ensure the integrity 20:58.660 --> 21:00.060 of the games. 21:00.060 --> 21:05.900 Computers are used to analyze sales, project jackpots and to monitor the actual betting. 21:05.900 --> 21:10.020 The Pennsylvania lottery, in fact, runs one of the most complex computer networks with 21:10.020 --> 21:13.580 nearly 3,000 terminals on a controlled data system. 21:13.580 --> 21:17.620 The system has 100 percent redundancy and a hot backup. 21:17.620 --> 21:21.060 So one rarely hears that the computer is down. 21:21.060 --> 21:28.660 In 10 years, and your viewers would be interested to know that our uptime is 99.98 percent, 21:28.660 --> 21:32.220 as close to perfection as you possibly could get with an online system. 21:32.220 --> 21:38.940 I don't remember a major downtime since 1977 when we first began. 21:38.940 --> 21:42.980 One of the primary functions of the computer system is to constantly monitor the lottery's 21:42.980 --> 21:47.120 payoff liability to make sure that no one can break the bank. 21:47.120 --> 21:51.660 On the Big Four game, which pays odds of 5,000 to 1, the computer makes sure that the state 21:51.660 --> 21:56.540 is never exposed to a liability in excess of $5 million per game. 21:56.540 --> 22:01.180 If it senses heavy betting on one particular number, in this case 11-11, it sends out a 22:01.180 --> 22:04.420 warning and then cuts off betting on that number. 22:04.420 --> 22:08.380 Heavy betting on a particular number often occurs because lottery players tend to follow 22:08.380 --> 22:10.940 common patterns in picking numbers. 22:10.940 --> 22:16.420 For example, when years ago when Pete Rose was with Philadelphia and he had his certain 22:16.420 --> 22:19.500 number of hits, they played that number. 22:19.500 --> 22:21.620 They played a Super Bowl score. 22:21.620 --> 22:23.680 They play the Jewish New Year. 22:23.680 --> 22:25.780 They play the Chinese New Year. 22:25.780 --> 22:30.380 While the computer system assures a random drawing every time, the law of averages takes 22:30.380 --> 22:31.860 a while to work. 22:31.860 --> 22:36.820 We've had over 3,100 daily number drawings, pick three drawings, in 10 years. 22:36.820 --> 22:42.700 However, there are two or three dozen numbers that haven't come up out of 3,100 drawings, 22:42.700 --> 22:44.700 and there are only 1,000 numbers. 22:44.700 --> 22:49.420 The lottery's computers have many safeguards to protect against being broken into. 22:49.420 --> 22:54.940 Games are shut down exactly 168 seconds prior to the winning drawing so that all computer 22:54.940 --> 22:56.560 tapes can be removed. 22:56.560 --> 23:00.020 That way no one can enter a winning number after the drawing. 23:00.020 --> 23:04.260 Often the computer experts here actually hire hackers and challenge them to try to break 23:04.260 --> 23:09.060 in so that they can spot any weaknesses which may exist in the system. 23:09.060 --> 23:13.340 Seven years ago, the Pennsylvania lottery did fall victim to a scandal, but it had nothing 23:13.340 --> 23:15.060 to do with the computers. 23:15.060 --> 23:19.480 Most of the balls which are used in the drawings were weighted so that only sixes would rise 23:19.480 --> 23:20.580 to the top. 23:20.580 --> 23:25.140 But a slow motion analysis of the drawing coupled with detailed computer analysis led 23:25.140 --> 23:27.820 investigators to the culprits. 23:27.820 --> 23:33.060 Drawing processing showed exactly where these bets were coming from. 23:33.060 --> 23:37.320 We went to those retailers, found out who was sitting in the white Cadillac placing 23:37.320 --> 23:42.380 all those bets, and basically were able to convict on the computer evidence. 23:42.380 --> 23:47.100 But despite all the computers, when it comes to calculating the payoffs, no one trusts 23:47.100 --> 23:48.100 the computers. 23:48.100 --> 23:53.300 The numbers are crunched manually with a good old-fashioned desk calculator, some paper, 23:53.300 --> 23:54.300 and a pencil. 23:54.300 --> 23:57.060 When you're sitting alone in the middle of the night giving away millions of dollars, 23:57.060 --> 24:00.500 you have to be absolutely sure you're doing it perfectly. 24:00.500 --> 24:02.980 And that's our look at computers and gambling. 24:02.980 --> 24:16.700 We'll be back in just a minute with this week's computer news. 24:16.700 --> 24:20.900 I'm Susan Chase sitting in for Stuart Shafae in the Random Access File this week. 24:20.900 --> 24:24.620 NCR Corporation unveiled a new line of personal computers. 24:24.620 --> 24:30.420 NCR introduced two AT compatibles, one 286 machine and one 386 workstation. 24:30.420 --> 24:34.980 The machines are based on NCR's incremental workstation architecture and will be available 24:34.980 --> 24:36.540 later this year. 24:36.540 --> 24:41.380 Hewlett Packard announced three new technical computers and said that the 930 and 950 business 24:41.380 --> 24:45.740 computers announced in 1986 will finally ship this fall. 24:45.740 --> 24:49.940 All five of the computers are based on the technology of reduced instruction set computing 24:49.940 --> 24:51.380 or RISC. 24:51.380 --> 24:56.300 Digital Equipment and Cray Research will soon introduce a new interface between their computers. 24:56.300 --> 25:00.700 The new product, a combination of digital hardware and Cray software, is part of an 25:00.700 --> 25:04.500 effort to speed up data transfer between the two companies' computers. 25:04.500 --> 25:09.060 Digital will market the interface in an effort to step up pressure on IBM in the scientific 25:09.060 --> 25:10.860 computing market. 25:10.860 --> 25:14.940 And now it's time for this week's software review and here's Paul Schindler. 25:14.940 --> 25:20.140 You know, maybe I would be better at this if I'd had a computer when I was young. 25:20.140 --> 25:25.700 Well, to help your kids do better, here's some top flight Macintosh educational software, 25:25.700 --> 25:29.100 Kids Time, a collection of five educational games. 25:29.100 --> 25:31.100 Now first there's Connect the Dots. 25:31.100 --> 25:33.900 When you're done, the computer redraws it. 25:33.900 --> 25:34.900 Then there's A.B. 25:34.900 --> 25:38.180 Key, which takes advantage of the Mac's sophisticated sound. 25:38.180 --> 25:41.980 It names the letters your child types. 25:41.980 --> 25:44.160 Match It is a matching game with logic. 25:44.160 --> 25:46.120 It starts with a robot puzzle. 25:46.120 --> 25:50.300 Each piece you get wrong, the computer pulls back out. 25:50.300 --> 25:56.260 Kids Notes will play a song and will also allow you to compose and record your own. 25:56.260 --> 26:06.380 Story Writer reads the story as you write it or all at once at the end. 26:06.380 --> 26:11.500 Kids Time is world-class educational software for the Apple Macintosh, $50 from Great Wave 26:11.500 --> 26:13.740 Software in Stanford, California. 26:13.740 --> 26:17.340 For the Computer Chronicles, I'm Paul Schindler. 26:17.340 --> 26:20.460 News from the spring context in Atlanta has started to trickle in. 26:20.460 --> 26:26.420 Sharp plans to introduce two portables, one a clone of the PC-AT called the PC-7200 and 26:26.420 --> 26:30.740 the other, the PC-4500, is compatible with the PC-XT. 26:30.740 --> 26:33.060 And Samsung will show off its new clones. 26:33.060 --> 26:39.220 The SAM-88T is designed to be XT compatible and the SAM-286 is an AT compatible machine. 26:39.220 --> 26:43.500 Finally, Japanese companies are working on a new method of software distribution that 26:43.500 --> 26:46.500 is designed to eliminate software piracy. 26:46.500 --> 26:51.180 Called the Software Service System, the product is a box that attaches to existing computers 26:51.180 --> 26:53.860 or could be built into new computers. 26:53.860 --> 26:57.220 Software would not run on the computer until the box authorized it. 26:57.220 --> 27:01.140 Users would purchase a special card to activate the box and give credit for any software the 27:01.140 --> 27:02.900 user wanted to buy. 27:02.900 --> 27:07.300 Users would be encouraged to copy software but be prevented from using it without paying 27:07.300 --> 27:08.300 for it. 27:08.300 --> 27:14.140 That's it for this week's Computer Chronicles. 27:14.140 --> 27:18.460 The Computer Chronicles is made possible by Leading Edge, makers of IBM compatible computer 27:18.460 --> 27:23.020 systems including word processing with spelling correction, communication software, and Hays 27:23.020 --> 27:26.500 compatible 1200 and 2400 baud modems. 27:26.500 --> 27:29.860 Leading Edge with over 1,000 service centers nationwide. 27:29.860 --> 27:33.220 Leading Edge, leading the way to the information age. 27:33.220 --> 27:36.540 Additional funding is provided by McGraw-Hill, publishers of Byte. 27:36.540 --> 27:41.060 Byte's detailed technical articles on new hardware, software, and languages cover developments 27:41.060 --> 28:08.780 in computer technology worldwide.